


Tightrope

by SpicyReyes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Do-Over Fic for the fandom that needed it most, Eren is 28, Future Fic, I rewrite everything and make a lot of shit up so you dont necessarily need to be caught up?, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Multi, Mute Eren Yeager, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Ymir Fritz is fucking furious, from way post canon to the very beginning of canon as we do, it's way post canon, no im serious yall im gonna do it, post the Bad Ending version of what is in the manga rn, technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:53:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24753502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyReyes/pseuds/SpicyReyes
Summary: Eren's thirteen years are up, and Ymir meets him in the Paths with nothing but pure fury.She has a plan, though, and it looks like Eren is going to redeem himself, whether he likes it or not.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 79
Kudos: 585





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so manga!eren has lost his damn mind and therefore its a good time for my Specialty  
> canon also gave me a way to transfer memories from one character to their past self but that wasnt good enough for my bitch ass and i had to bullshit a way to throw the whole man into the past smdh  
> If you're worried, by the way, deaths mentioned in this fic are 1) not going to be repeated and 2) not necessarily spoilers, as Eren is from a point way further down the manga timeline, past all canon, and pretty much everybody in his world is dead, whether the manga has killed them off or not. Characters that are currently alive in canon are hella dead for Eren, because he fucked the world up  
> anyways this was just a matter of time so take it and enjoy ig

“The earth is soaked in blood.”

Eren opened his eyes, surrounded on all sides by sprawling light. He looked up, instinctive, at the sky, marked with a thousand unfolding lines.

The Paths. 

“The world was taken apart.”

Eren turned, looking behind him, to see the pillar of light at the Coordinate and, just before it, the spirit of Ymir.

She looked hollowed out. 

“Your thirteen years are up,” she told him. “Did you even leave enough behind for a successor?” 

“You agreed with me,” Eren protested. “You agreed to let them out. You helped me set off the Rumbling.” 

“But it did nothing,” she said. “My blood and body were split among the people of the world for two thousand years...and it destroyed them all.” 

“People still live,” Eren said. “They are-...”

“They are standing on a mound of bodies,” Ymir said. “The world was cruel to you and I, and in return, we burned it down. We just...kept it going.”

“It’s done, now,” Eren said. 

“No,” she said. “It isn’t.”

She raised her eyes to the sky, and Eren followed her, eyeing the Paths. 

They sprawled out in every direction, somehow dimmer than he remembered, except for a single line, thick and brilliant white, headed out in the direction Eren had awoken faced in. 

“What is that?” he asked. “Who’s it go to?” 

“You,” she said. “All the way back. The beginning.” 

“You want me to send a memory, then?” Eren asked. “They were always too vague - even if I sent  _ everything, _ I wouldn’t be able to make sense of it enough to do anything any differently.” 

“I don’t want to change your path,” Ymir said, eyes locked on the glowing path. “The you that sits before me...That path is his, and it will stay.”

“...I don’t get what you’re saying,” Eren said. 

Ymir finally looked away, turning to the pillar behind her, walking slowly towards it.

“What are you doing?” Eren asked, getting anxious with every step she took, feeling an ominous sense of foreboding. 

She reached it, and reached out, hand plunging into the core of the light. 

“What are you-...?”

She wheeled around, yanking her hand free, light clinging to it as it emerged, and shot her arm out, like she was throwing something. 

The light followed her hand, directed like a javelin toss. It shot up, slamming into the single bright path above them.

A crackle like lightning broke from the start of it, and then crawled down it, an unbroken line of static out into the infinite distance.

“What is this?” Eren asked, panicked. “What did you do?”

The static began to spread, crackling into a V, two lines of it branching off the same point of contact. 

“Ymir!”

“Change the Paths!” she cried out. “I don’t want to be here anymore! I’m not going to stand by and watch! I won’t see the world fall apart!”

The static began to fizzle out, crackling dying off, leaving Eren gaping at the sky.

The single path had split into two, trailing away from the Coordinate, side by side. 

“What…” He stared at it, uncomprehending. “What are those? What does that mean?”

A hand closed around his arm. 

He had half a second to look down, confused, seeing Ymir’s aspect holding onto him, light from her hand crawling along his skin - and then she jerked again, dragging him with inhuman strength,  _ throwing  _ him forward. 

Before he could spare a second thought, his back hit something solid - the Coordinate, rigid behind him for a single second, and then slowly softening, him sinking back into the light, like quicksand. 

“What is this?” Eren cried, wide, terrified eyes on Ymir. “What are you doing to me?”

She watched him with hard, cold eyes, and stepped forward, catching him by the jaw. 

“If one of us is to be a slave,” she said, and then stopped, grabbing him with her other hand as well, prying open his jaw.

Her strength was insane, and he felt like a mere child trying to escape her, especially when his struggling sent him further back into the light, which clawed its way over him like something alive, trying to swallow him. 

Her small, bony fingers grabbed the tongue in his mouth, and he had half a second to remember her history and guess what would happen before it did.

In one, harsh pull, of impossible strength, she tore the tongue from his mouth. 

He let out a strangled scream around the blood that welled, feeling it run over his chin, and then she shoved him backward, letting the light consume him. 

  
  
  
  


He opened his eyes to see a canopy of leaves, gentle light breaking through them to dance across his face.

It would have been pleasant, had he not immediately needed to roll to one side, coughing out a mouthful of blood. 

She’d ripped out his tongue. He had no idea where he was - some forest, it looked like, from the grass beneath him and the trees above - and his mouth felt alien without the tongue in it. 

_ It will grow back,  _ he told himself...but he felt a knot forming in his stomach, instinct telling him that wasn’t the case. 

Ymir rebuilt his body from the Coordinate when it was damaged - if  _ she  _ had hurt him, it wouldn’t make sense for her to turn around and return the missing chunk of him. 

He didn’t have the ability to spit properly, and so the blood that didn’t just pour out when he opened his mouth clung to his cheeks and teeth and refused to leave.

The soft bottom of his mouth still moved, and using that, he was able to do a couple of desperate swallows, getting the bulk of it out, but the taste lingered. 

_ What do I do now?  _

He had no idea where he was, or what was happening to him. 

He looked up, taking in his surroundings. Trees, stretched out in every direction, where mostly all he could see. Behind him, though, he thought he could see something through the foliage, and he got to his feet, wiping the blood from his chin with his sleeve, the white shirt hopelessly stained with the dirt he’d woken up in anyway. 

He took inventory of what else he had on him - the same clothes he’d worn when he died, a plain outfit chosen for walking through the city and a pair of military boots, and, as far as he could tell, nothing else. Nothing in his pockets, just his clothes and the hair tie that his hair was slowly escaping from. 

_ No idea where I am,  _ he thought, taking a step forward, eyes locked on the little bit of  _ something  _ visible beyond the trees.  _ No idea what I’m doing.  _

The only thing he could do was go forward.

The pain that had throbbed in his jaw faded quickly, and he imagined that the wound had healed, though it was still very clearly not growing back. 

_ What was she planning?  _

He froze, mid-step, as the treeline became visible - and, beyond it, the place where he’d awoken. 

The unmistakable form of Wall Maria towered ahead. 

_ That’s not possible,  _ he told himself, firmly.  _ I destroyed the walls. I set them free.  _

But Ymir-

-...Ymir had been angry, when he’d reached her. She’d been unhappy with his death, unhappy with his legacy, insisting that what he’d done was  _ wrong,  _ that he’d only made the world worse for his efforts. 

But what was the alternative? Could he have done anything better?

He wiped out most life on earth, making his people into the sole survivors they’d believed themselves to be in his youth.

Was that really the only way he could have saved them?

It was too late to think on it, he told himself, only to immediately doubt it, eyes still locked on the wall.

He had no idea what was happening. Perhaps he was in some personal, hand-crafted hell. Maybe whatever devil had given the power of the titans to Ymir had sunk its claws into him, as well, and he was seeing a world where everything he’d done had been erased, and he would be trapped in the knowledge that he had not changed anything at all. 

He felt his knees go weak, and leaned sideways, collapsing against a tree. 

_ Were they scared? _

The thought hit him so hard it could have knocked him over, had he not already hit his knees, weight slumped against the trunk of a large tree, the bark digging scratches into his arm, tearing at the ruined fabric of his shirt. 

Had the people of Marley been scared, when their fears were made real? Had they looked at the titans that came for them with the same fear that he had felt when the first eyes peered over the wall, on that day?

Had children, somewhere in the world, seen what he’d seen? Had some young boy clawed at the ruins of his house, trying desperately to beat fate, to free his mother, to hopelessly struggle against what was coming?

His face felt hot and wet as the tears streamed down his cheeks. 

Had anyone lived? Had there been people, somewhere in the decimated ruins, who found some place to hide? 

Had they struggled, as the Survey Corps had always done? Hopelessly, worthlessly, against a foe that couldn’t be defeated? A force stronger than they could dream to be?

Did anyone make an oath to themselves, swearing they would take each and every enemy off the face of the earth, only to break it, because there was no way to win, really?

He tried to remember that feeling. He tried to remember anger that felt righteous, felt constructive, felt like he was working  _ toward  _ something rather than  _ against  _ it. 

Ymir had spoken of his victory as hollow...and now, looking at the phantom image of where he’d begun, he felt sick, because she was right. 

He hadn’t saved his people at all. He’d built them a mountain of bodies on which to die. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, folding in on himself, fists clenching in the dirt beside his knees. 

He was wrong. The place around him wasn’t hell - it was purgatory. It was a space in between, somewhere to recognize his sins. 

And, oh, did he recognize them. The innumerable acts of evil that he’d justified to himself over the years. 

He was-...

He was…

A distant shout caught his attention, and he straightened abruptly, looking in its direction. 

For a moment, there was nothing...and then, a few hundred yards away, something broke through the treeline, rushing into the open fields beyond. 

Horses. Over a hundred of them - a whole squad. 

Eren looked between them, looking at their faces, expecting people he knew - if this was a purgatory for him alone, surely he’d see those he’d failed. 

Instead, though, he couldn’t recognize anyone from the distance. 

He opened his mouth, having the faintest instinct to call out, but the sound that came from him was broken, closer to the sort of sounds he made as a titan than anything comprehensible. 

He had no idea what was going on, where he was, what he was meant to do- but those were the Survey Corps, he was certain of it, and at one time in his life, those wings had meant everything to him. 

He forced himself to stand. 

He took a step forward, and immediately faltered, swaying unsteadily on his feet. 

_ Something’s wrong with me,  _ he thought, catching his balance.  _ Am I still sick?  _

That didn’t feel right. His lungs didn’t ache like they’d been doing for months - instead, he simply felt  _ exhausted,  _ down to the bone in an all-consuming way. 

He didn’t have time to rest, though. They were  _ going  _ somewhere, and he had nothing else to go off of than their presence. If he wanted to move forward, he had to catch them.

He took another shaky step, then another. 

The horses were still breaking through the trees, in groups of three or four at a time, squads in a scouting formation. 

Eren just had to get to one of them. He just had to-...

He stumbled, legs folding beneath him, collapsing to the ground. 

_ I can’t… _

He heard a horse let out a startled cry, and the sound of hooves, and managed to spare a single glance at the fading image of military boots hitting the ground near him before the world went black. 

  
  
  
  


“A human?” Hange asked, eyeing the body on the ground. “Not one of ours. How’d he get out here?”

“Good question,” Levi said, sticking his foot out, nudging the man’s shoulder with the toe of his boot. 

He didn’t respond, but as his shoulder rolled back, Levi could see the movement that clearly showed he was still breathing. 

“He looks like he’s about to die,” Levi said. Looking to one of the scouts in Hange’s squad, he ordered, “Pick him up. If he lives, we need to know how he ended up out here.” 

The scouts cried an affirmative, and Levi climbed back onto his horse, steering her ahead, back toward the wall. 

Hange caught up quickly, riding at his shoulder, calling to him, “Do you think he followed us?”

“If he’s fucking suicidal,” Levi replied, dryly. “And even that’s a stretch. Feeding yourself to titans seems a little extreme.”

“How did he get outside the wall at all?” Hange asked, looking back, eyeing the stranger’s unconscious form, where the scouts had stuck him in their supply cart. “It’s fifty meters high, and the gates only open for expeditions.” 

“How the fuck would I know?” Levi shot back. 

Hange grinned. “He must’ve done something interesting to get away from titans, out here by himself.”

“We don’t know he was alone,” Levi pointed out. “He could have had others, who were just less lucky.” 

"Not sure how lucky he was," Hange mused. "He was awfully bloody."

That was the thing bothering Levi. Titans weren’t the type to injure someone and leave them alive. If he’d been caught by a titan, he’d have been eaten. He had no weapons, no gear - unless he’d lost it along the way, something else happened to him. 

The problem there was that if  _ titans  _ didn’t get him...what did?

Animals? 

Or humans?

They needed answers. 

  
  
  
  


Eren had woken up in chains far too many times in his life. 

Enough, in fact, that he could tell what the weight on his wrists was before he even opened his eyes. His whole body felt heavy in general, and waking came to him slowly, both speaking of exhaustion he hadn’t felt in a long time, the kind of feeling after having to regenerate all four limbs or similarly exert his power. 

He supposed returning to life was draining. 

Slowly, he peeled his eyes open, looking up at a metallic ceiling. 

_ Am I back here? _

It looked an awful lot like his cell when he’d first discovered his shifting ability, but prisons all looked about the same. He had no way of knowing who had him this time. 

“Oh, are you awake?”

Eren blinked, recognizing the voice, however long it had been since he heard it. He shifted on the bed, dragging himself to sit upright. 

The chains on his wrist pulled as he brought his hands up, into his lap, folding his legs to watch outside the bars of his cell warily. 

Hange, young and unscarred, stared back at him, wide eyes alight with familiar curiosity. 

“It’s not everyday we find a human alive outside the walls,” they said. “Who are you, then?”

Eren opened his mouth, only to immediately remember that was pointless, the empty space inside it feeling a lot more hollow.

He let his mouth fall closed again, and reached up, tapping the side of his mouth. 

“Hm?” Hange leaned in, peering between the bars at him. “Your mouth?”

Making a feeble effort, Eren tried to speak, aiming for a simple, “Can’t talk.” What came out was more of a series of slurred sounds, nothing really coming out recognizable except the vowels. 

Hange blinked, straightening up a bit. “You can’t talk,” they realized. “Interesting.” They brought a hand up to their chin, considering him closely. “I’ll ask yes-or-no questions, then, to make it easier. You can just nod.” Reaching out, grabbing the bars, sticking their face between them, they asked eagerly, “Is the blood on you yours?” 

Eren nodded. That, at least, was an easy question to answer honestly. 

“How did-...” Hange started, then stopped, trying again. “Did you follow the Survey Corps outside the gate?”

He shook his head.

“Did you escape the walls another way?”

He hesitated.

He had to make a call, he realized - he had to decide how he was going to play things. 

He could make a bid for something to write on, he supposed, and tell them the truth. He could warn them what made their lives hell, and guide them to how to-...

...But, no. His solution was not the way, Ymir had made that clear.

If she really had dropped him into some personal trial, she likely wanted him to try and  _ fix  _ how he’d done things in his actual life. 

So, that was out. The Rumbling, the conquering of the globe, that wasn’t his mistake to make again. He had to do something better. 

Until he figured that out, though, he had to get out of the cell, and that meant convincing these people that he was harmless.

Or, well...not threatening _ them, _ at least. 

The Survey Corps, though, were also his stepping stone. If he wanted to do  _ anything  _ to help his people, it started with them. They had the most power to affect the world of the walls, the most freedom to move. 

He had to convince them he was an ally.

But...how?

If he claimed to have escaped the wall, they’d want to know  _ how,  _ and he didn’t have an answer for that. 

If he claimed to have lived outside the wall, again, they’d want an explanation.

His father-...

That was right, he realized. His father had already done that legwork for him, had already been in a similar enough situation. 

Mind made up, Eren looked up at Hange, feigning confusion. He shook his head, lifting his shoulders in a vague shrug. 

“You don’t know?” Hange said. “You don’t remember at all?”

He shook his head. 

“Interesting,” they murmured. “Do you remember anything? Do you know the year?”

Eren shook his head, relieved they’d asked - whatever they said it was changed what sort of things Eren needed to focus on first.

“It’s 845,” Hange said. 

Eren startled, sitting up straight. “Has Maria fallen?” he demanded, immediately, only to be instantly grateful that his dumb instinct was blocked by the fact that the sounds that escaped him were incomprehensible nonsense. 

“I didn’t catch that,” Hange said, sounding apologetic, but in the same sort of voice they apologized to titans they injured, leaving Eren a bit worried about how they were viewing him. 

Eren held up his hand, holding it flat and straight out in front of him, on its side, trying to imitate a wall. “Maria,” he repeated, trying to make the sound of it as clear as possible, given that he was relying entirely on the bottom of his mouth raising to warp sounds from his throat. 

“Wall Maria?” Hange asked, head tipping to one side. “What about it?”

Eren’s eyes grew wide, his heart pounding.  _ Did that mean…?  _

Leaning forward, watching them intently, he moved his hand, drawing their attention back to it, and then dropped it harshly to one side, trying to illustrate ‘fall.’

“...A drawgate?” they guessed, watching him in open confusion. “Is that how you got out?”

Eren shook his head. Trying a different tactic, he stuck his hand out beside him, off the bed and over the floor, palm down, and raised it up well over his own head. 

“Height,” they said. “Are you still talking about the wall?”

He shook his head.

“Then, titans?”

He nodded quickly, then moved again, reaching to tap his own boot. 

“....Feet?”

He nodded, then held up his hand again. 

“The wall,” they completed. “Titan, foot-...Titans kicking the wall?”

He nodded vigorously. 

“Titans are trying to break the wall down?” Hange exclaimed. 

Eren nodded. “Huge,” he tried to say, and though the sound was hardly a successful word, it looked as though Hange got the message. 

“How do you know this?” They asked, only to stop short, shaking their head. “Are you certain?”

Eren nodded sharply. 

“Where are they attacking?” Hange demanded. “Can you try to say it?” 

_ Shiganshina  _ was definitely not a word he could do. Instead, he raised a finger in the air, tracing the clear shape of an S. 

“South?” Hange guessed. At Eren’s nod, they clarified, “The bait city? Shiganshina?” 

He tried to cry a relieved  _ yes  _ in reply, but it came out as more of an excited ‘ehh,’ both consonants beyond his ability. 

Hange turned on their heel, looking ready to take off, and he yelled out again, just making the loudest nonsensical sound he could manage to get them to turn back to him.

Eren pointed very firmly at his own chest. 

“If this is true, I need to tell them,” Hange said. “I don’t know when you’ll be let out.” 

Eren shook his head, and moved, forming a salute he hadn’t done in  _ years.  _

“You want to fight,” Hange realized. “You can fight titans?”

He nodded sharply. 

“You survived outside the gate, so I’m tempted to believe you,” Hange said. “But it’s not up to me.”

Eren moved, jumping to his feet, trying to approach the bars, only to be stopped short by the reach of the chains. Frustrated, he tapped his chest again, and then held his hand up above his head, gesturing for the height of a titan again. 

“Even if you  _ can  _ fight titans-...”

Eren shook his head, and froze, heart pounding in his chest.

He had no choice. If he wanted them to act, if he wanted to make a difference-....

He raised his hand to his mouth.

“What are you-...?”

He bit down on his thumb, the familiar tang of blood soaking his mouth, somehow still metallic without a tongue to taste it properly. 

Heat spread down his arm in an instant, then there was a release of steam, a crackle of lightning, and Eren stuck his hand out, watching muscle build in layers.

Hange hopped back a step, eyes wide and stunned, as Eren’s titan hand formed, gigantic fingers wrapping around the bars of his cell. 

“You-...?!”

Eren wanted them to trust him, he  _ did,  _ but if Wall Maria hadn’t fallen yet, they only had so much time. 

He had to act.

In the limited space of the cell, he  _ pulled,  _ the metal bars crumpling like foil under his hand, ripping straight off the walls. 

The door down, he spared half a second to tear the other cuff from his wrist, before he released, yanking his hand free of the puppet arm in a practiced motion, and took off, running forward before Hange could recover. 

“Wait!”

Eren didn’t. He made straight for the stairs, taking them two at a time, making his way to the surface. 

If he had to, he’d transform in the city. It would make getting all the way to Maria messy, but he could do it. A path of damage through the walls was better than losing a third of the population - he’d come to terms with necessary death a long time ago, and while he didn’t like the idea of stepping on someone or crushing buildings, he wouldn’t hesitate if he had to. 

_ Wall Maria is still standing,  _ Eren told himself.  _ It doesn’t have to fall.  _

He just had to-

Something struck  _ hard  _ against the back of his neck, and his knees buckled, dropping him onto the hard stone floor of the prison.

A blade came around, resting against his neck. “How did you get out?”

Eren’s eyes widened, all thought fleeing. 

He hadn’t heard that voice in a long time. 

“Levi!” Hange cried, footsteps alerting Eren to them rounding the corner behind them. 

“I heard some kind of blast,” Levi said, pushing the edge of his blade close against Eren’s throat. “What did he do?”

Eren was going to be killed. That was it - Ymir had dropped him into a hopeless case. Maybe he’d wake in the woods again, ready to do this over and over, to the end of time. An endless penance. 

“We don’t have time,” Hange said, quickly. “There’s going to be an attack on Wall Maria.”

The blade at his neck shifted just a fraction off his skin. “There’s  _ what?” _

Eren took his chance. He reached up, putting his hand flat against the blade and shoving it away, paying no mind to it cutting into his palms as he got to his feet. 

In a flash, the blade was at his throat again, straight out, but Eren was facing Levi now, and that was what he’d wanted. 

He tapped his chest twice, firmly, and then straightened up, reforming the military salute.

Levi narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Don’t argue,” Hange said, sharply. “He broke out of his cell-...It was like nothing I’d ever seen. If he can do  _ that,  _ he’s useful, and we have to  _ try.”  _

Levi huffed. “I can’t mobilize the entire Survey Corps on a damn-...”

Eren thrust a hand out.

Levi moved with him, blade digging into his neck a fraction, but his attention was drawn to the movement, and that allowed Eren to show him what he’d wanted to.

The cut on his palm, from Levi’s blade, emitting a soft steam, slowly knitting itself closed. 

“...You regenerate,” Levi said, flatly. “Like a titan?”

He nodded, sharply. 

“He can’t talk,” Hange said. 

“Yeah, I fucking noticed,” Levi muttured - and then, to Eren’s disbelief, removed his blade from Eren’s throat. “One wrong move, and I’ll kill you. You stick where I can see you, and you don’t do anything unless I say, got it?” 

Eren nodded, despite the fact that he had little intention of bowing to Levi’s command, once they were face-to-face with the other titans. 

He was going to eat all three of those pricks - reassemble the original titan’s power through consuming all its descendants. If he couldn’t decide on anything else, he could do that, at least. 

“Let’s move,” Levi said. “I’ll get everyone from this morning’s expedition back on their horses, and we’ll patrol the wall to look for any weak points.” He reached out, grabbing Eren by the arm, spinning him around and shoving him a step forward. “You first.”

Without hesitation, Eren took off again, no idea which way he needed to go beyond  _ out,  _ but desperate to get to the wall before the Warriors. 

He just hoped that his personal punishment wasn’t having to watch the wall fall again, unable to stop it, even knowing everything about it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the response on this was so good, thank you all!!! enjoy eren struggling to communicate for 2500 words and then being equally terrible at the communication for the last 2000

The stranger from the woods could ride a horse well. 

Up against things like him  _ regenerating  _ when injured, somehow something inhuman despite his otherwise normal appearance, it was a weird thing to stick out, but Levi couldn't help but note that he fit seamlessly into the Survey Corps' formation, as though he'd trained right alongside the soldiers who still didn't know so much as his  _ name.  _

All they knew was that this mystery man, pulled half-dead out of the woods, insisted that the wall was going to be attacked. 

That, and his abilities - Hange had pulled him aside while they were retrieving horses, and hissed to him about the man somehow generating a giant arm, which Levi couldn't even begin to understand, not to mention his skin knitted itself closed in seconds when cut. 

That, at least, answered how the man was so worn out and bloody, when they hadn't found a single actual wound on him. 

It  _ didn’t  _ explain, though, why he couldn’t talk. Or what he was, exactly, or what his goals were, or why he was so certain the wall was going to be attacked. 

It also didn’t explain the look in his eyes, wild and desperate and determined, that made Levi almost certain that he wasn’t just crazy -  _ something  _ was happening, even if the man turned out to be mistaken on what it was. 

The same desperation was in his riding posture, and he pushed his horse as hard as he could, trying to reach the walls in record time.

“He didn’t even know what year it was,” Hange called to him, riding up beside him. “I don’t know why he’s convinced whatever happens will happen today.” 

Levi kept his eyes fixed onto the man’s back. His loose white shirt was bloodstained and filthy, and their riding party drew a curious crowd as they passed through the cities, everyone looking from his disheveled state to the Survey Corps riding hard behind him, growing anxious at the sight. 

“He came from outside the walls,” Levi said. “That means people exist out there. His information is valuable. And there’s a chance…”

He felt Hange’s eyes on him. “A chance?”

“I can see it in his eyes,” Levi said. “Whatever’s coming...he’s seen it. If there’s another city out there, somewhere...the titans have already destroyed it.” 

Hange looked forward, at the man’s back. “He has abilities,” they said. “He could be a messenger.”

“A messenger that can’t talk?” Levi shot back. “He’s a survivor. That’s all. A fucking refugee.” 

“There’s another possibility,” Hange said, after a moment. 

Levi spared them half a glance sideways, before refocusing on the stranger. “What’s your theory, then?”

“He escaped.”

“That’s what I fucking said,” Levi snapped. 

“No,” Hange said. “Not a falling city- a lab.”

Levi’s fists tightened around the reins in his hands. “You think he was some kind of experiment.”

It wasn’t a question, and Hange didn’t answer it as one. “He tried to speak to me, but he can’t form the sounds. Something was done to his mouth, something  _ deliberate.  _ I think his tongue was cut out.”

Levi narrowed his eyes at the man’s back. “His hand healed,” he pointed out. “Wouldn’t-...?”

“I don’t know the rules,” Hange said. “Maybe it’s just his skin that heals. Maybe he can’t regrow something that’s been cut away - or maybe, whoever took it out, did something to make sure it wouldn’t come back. If someone  _ gave  _ him that ability, cooked it in a lab, they might have done it as a safety precaution.” 

“If you can make a human regenerate, that’s enough to turn the tide,” Levi said. “Whatever’s up with him, we need to find it.” 

“It starts here,” Hange said. “He’s trying to help us, somehow, as far as I can tell - if we can work with him, he might share more.” 

“If not, we’ll get it anyway,” Levi said. “This is the best chance we’ve ever had.”

  
  
  
  


It was 480km from the center of Paradis to Wall Maria. The horses bred for use by the Survey Corps ran, at top speed, around 70km per hour. 

That was nearly seven hours of running, and no horse could run full speed that long. 

Eren didn’t know what day he’d landed on - he’d forgotten, in his panic, to ask. He had no idea  _ when  _ the wall would fall. For all he knew, he could reach the wall a full month before anything happened to it. 

He’d had his eleventh birthday in the refugee work fields, though, and that was  _ March.  _ If it was at least two months into the year, he was out of time. 

His horse started to slow, and he grit his teeth, frustration welling in him. 

There was a way to get there faster. The Founding Titan form that Ymir had allowed him, all those years ago, was large enough to step over Paradis entirely. 

If he shifted, though, he’d level everything in his path, his legs and arms crushing the buildings where they grew. It would be almost as much devastation as letting the wall fall. 

So, it came down to priority - was he willing to kill thousands to save the ones he cared for more?

He’d killed the whole world for half a million.

He raised his hand to his mouth.

_ Would she even let me?  _

He froze, teeth bared, an inch from his hand. 

Ymir had been furious at their result. She’d torn out his tongue and cast him into this place. 

There was every chance that, if he bit his hand, he’d do nothing at all. Or, worse, he would shift, but only into the Attack Titan, and he would brand himself an enemy and panic the civilians and never,  _ ever  _ make it to Wall Maria, leaving it to fall yet again without any way to stop it. 

In this instance, he couldn’t risk being selfish. 

He lowered his hand, retaking the reins.

Movement beside him drew his eye, and he looked to the side to see Levi drawing up to him. 

“There’s a stable near the wall,” Levi said. “We’ll trade out horses, so we can keep riding without killing them. There’s not enough along the way, though - we have to slow down if we want to get anywhere.”

Eren scowled, and shook his head. 

“I wasn’t asking,” Levi said. “You’re on a horse because I don’t consider you a threat. You aren’t in charge. The military fucking hates assigning us horses, because they’re just going to die. If I kill these, pushing them to hard, that’s a whole expedition grounded. On the ground, we’re fucking snack food.” He pulled hard on his reins, and let out a whistle. At once, all the horses dropped speed, each of the riders following the cue to pull back as well, and passing on the sound, echoing it through the crowd of riders. 

Eren was forced to pull his own reins, as well, to fall back with them, keeping pace beside Levi. 

“People are going to die,” he tried to say, but the sounds would have been garbled at a normal volume - in a yell, they were barely recognizable as human. 

“It’s this, or nothing,” Levi told him, which gave Eren no clue as to whether he’d understood the meaning of his nonsense. 

Fuming, Eren looked ahead, hands gripping the reins so hard he could feel his nails in his palms. 

Seven hours at full speed...how long was a trot? How many hours were they adding? How many did they  _ have?  _

What if they got there, and the city was already dead?

He grit his teeth so hard he was half convinced they’d crack. The space between his jaws felt open and aching in the absence of his tongue, and he wanted to bite something, to put  _ something  _ in the space that could be crushed in his fury, some sort of stimuli to distract from his growing fury. 

In his Attack Titan form, he could beat the Survey Corps - he was fairly certain of that. He knew their moves, their strategies. His only threat was Levi, and Eren had trained alongside the man for years. He could counter his attack, if he had to.

If he shifted right then, he could run. 

Fifteen meters, though, wasn’t enough. He couldn’t scale the walls, and he wouldn’t break through them. He’d be stopped the second he reached a gate. 

He let out a strangled noise of frustration, feeling himself  _ shake  _ under the pressure of it. 

“Hey, shithead.”

Eren looked over, where Levi had caught his attention, watching him with narrowed, annoyed eyes.

“If the wall  _ is  _ attacked,” he said, “Even if we’re late, we’ll be there before we would have been. Anything else is out of our control. Calm the fuck down.” 

It was true, but that wasn’t a comfort. It just made him all the more frustrated. What was the point of  _ knowing  _ if he couldn’t  _ change  _ it?

Ymir was torturing him.  _ If one of us is to be a slave -  _ was that what this was? Making him suffer for his crimes?

He’d leveled the earth, but he’d done so with her blessing. Surely she remembered that. 

How could she forget? 

He certainly never would.

He hunched forward, eyes fixed firmly ahead. 

They’d trade out horses, and ride at a steady pace. They’d be at Wall Maria by sundown.

He hoped that was soon enough.

  
  
  
  
  


When Wall Maria came into view, something in Eren unwound. Only, in doing so, it unleashed a whole new wave of feelings, a desperate ache inside him that left him staring blankly into the distance, the wall’s outlines blurring in his vision. 

Those walls held the most devastating force the world could ever know, and all they did was hide. All they did was keep the worst at bay.

Was life in a box better than life in a wasteland?

What was worth more - humanity’s abundance, or its peace? 

Could both be achieved, when he hadn’t managed either?

“Hey, asshole.”

Eren looked aside, to Levi, watching him with a measured stare. 

“Do you know  _ when  _ they’re coming?”

Eren relaxed a fraction, relieved that, while clearly unwilling to trust Eren completely, Levi did not seem to doubt that  _ he,  _ at least, believed the attack to be real. 

Eren debated, for a moment, how to respond. Without speech, his options were limited - the military had some hand signs, but they’d never been popular, given they were only necessary when using some degree of stealth, which wasn’t much of an option against titans. 

Eren could maybe remember a handful of them, and he’d  _ run  _ the military - what was left of it after the Rumbling, anyway. 

He didn’t really have much of an answer to give, anyway. 

What he  _ did  _ know…

He raised his hand, catching Levi’s attention, and pointed out to the setting sun. The man followed the gesture, eyes locked on Eren’s hand as he raised it further, pointing very clearly to the sky straight above their heads. 

“Noon?” Levi asked, catching on immediately. 

Eren nodded.

“So we have time,” Levi said. “Do you know which point on the wall they intend to attack?”

The memory was old, but Eren had a jumble of lifetimes in his brain, and their relative ages meant little to him, at this point. He gave a quick nod again, thinking back, trying to remember the exact spot. 

He could remember where he’d been, and how the wall had looked, and that had all the information he needed, if he could just get there to pick it out.

Or…

Eren reached up, to his neck, despite knowing full well the key hadn’t hung there in years. 

If he could get to the basement, if he could convince his father to show the military the truth...They could stop it all, before anything even started. They could face the titans at the gate with the full knowledge of what they were. 

Except, Eren remembered the reveal. He remembered how many had faltered, with the knowledge of what titans had once been. How many had looked into the eyes of one, searching for some remnant of humanity, and lingering on their doubt so long that they were easy prey. 

Levi wouldn’t hesitate, but could he say that about anyone else? 

The other-...

_ Shit! _

Eren looked to Levi, startled by the realization he’d missed a vital detail. His quick movement drew Levi’s eye again, and he gestured to their horses, before reaching up, tapping his shoulder, in the spot where Levi’s Scout badge was on his jacket. 

“What?” Levi asked, eyebrows furrowing. “Scout horses? What about them?”

Eren shook his head, and turned slightly on the horse, gesturing to the scouts following them. 

“Other scouts?”

Eren nodded.

Levi snorted. “I’m not a commander, you know,” he said. “This has to be enough. It’s as much as I can do.”

Eren shook his head furiously, racking his brain for a way to communicate. 

‘Expedition’ was  _ way  _ beyond his ability to articulate, and Erwin’s name wouldn’t sound like anything but a groan-...

...But Erwin wasn’t in charge, right now, was he?

Eren yanked on his reins, pulling his horse to a stop, listening to the whistle as Levi signalled the others to stop as well.

They had time, and Eren needed both hands. 

He turned fully to face Levi, and tapped his shoulder, in the space for the badge.

“Fucking charades?” Levi muttered. “Fine, okay. Military?”

Eren pointed at Levi, then twisted his hands around, fanning his fingers out.

“....Wings,” Levi said, looking at them. “So this is about the Survey Corps?”

Eren nodded, then pointed to the gate, then to their horses, then to the squad behind them. 

“We’re already leaving,” Levi said, impatiently. “What else-...”

Eren shook his head, and waved, drawing Levi’s full attention again, and then reached up, putting a finger on either eyelid on one eye, pulling, holding it wide open.

“...Don’t touch your eye,” Levi said. “That’s fucking nasty. What are we looking at?”

Eren gave a frustrated huff. Past the point where he could think of gestures, he just tried to  _ say  _ what he was thinking. 

Unfortunately, the sounds that came out were along the lines of “ieh hadi ehpehishon.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Levi said, turning around on his horse. “Hange! Do you have some  _ fucking  _ paper?”

Oh.

That...was a better solution. 

There was a moment of fumbling, and then the crowd parted a bit, Hange’s horse weeding its way between the rest to join them. 

“Hello again!” they said, and held out a journal, already open to a blank page, and a pen.

Eren reached out to take them, but found Hange’s grip iron-tight. He looked up at them, confused, to see an eerie look on the scientist’s face.

“Don’t open the other pages,” they said, a cool warning. “You don’t need my notes. Just write what you have to say, and give it back.”

Eren gave a wary nod, relieved when Hange immediately released the journal, allowing him to pull it back onto the back of his horse, bracing it on one thigh to scribble out a note. 

For a moment, the sound of his pen scratching furiously across the paper was the only sound. 

A long,  _ long  _ moment. 

“Are you writing a fucking novel?” Levi demanded. “Just-..”

Eren interrupted him by shoving the journal back.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The stranger was clearly handing the journal to  _ him,  _ but Hange snatched it out of the air as it passed in front of them, adjusting their glasses and bringing it up to read it. 

As their eyes flicked back and forth, frantically scanning the page, taking in whatever was on it, they widened, Hange’s entire face blanching. 

“What is it?” Levi asked, and held out a hand, which Hange solemnly released the journal into. Uneasy feeling settling in his gut, he read what the mute man had written.

TITANS ARE ATTACKING KEITH SHADIS’S OPERATION OUTSIDE THE WALL, BECAUSE THEY ARE GATHERING AROUND LEADERS FOR WHEN THE WALL IS BREACHED. A 60M TITAN IS COMING.

_ “Sixty?”  _ Levi breathed, looking up at the stranger, who nodded grimly in return. 

Quickly, Levi thrust the journal back at him. “Fill that page,” he said. “Tell me everything important,  _ right now.”  _ He looked to Hange, then, and ordered, “Go ahead, through the gate, and get the Garrison in Shiganshina to set up a camp for us. We’ll watch the wall 24/7 until we can be certain it’s safe.” They picked up their reins, and Levi shot a hand out, grabbing them around the arm. “We got new intel and are riding out to deliver it to Shadis. Say  _ nothing  _ else.” 

Hange nodded, and once Levi released them, rode full speed to the gates of the bait city. 

Levi looked back to the stranger, reaching over to snatch his reins. “I’ll guide your horse,” Levi said. “Keep writing.”

Without looking up from his scribbling, the stranger nodded. 

A new purpose in mind, Levi raised his free hand, and signalled the scouts to start moving again. 

_ Sixty fucking meters? _

  
  
  
  
  
  


“So! Good news and bad news.”

Levi looked up at Hange’s cheery voice, and instantly scowled at the figures that accompanied them.

Garrison men - high up, probably, and looking pissed off at being interrupted in whatever bullshit they did during the evenings when nothing fucking happened. 

Beside him, the stranger paused his writing, freezing with his eyes locked on the new soldiers. 

_ Does he know them?  _

Levi looked to the Garrison men, but when they shot the man curious looks, there didn’t seem to be any recognition. 

He didn’t have time to be curious. 

“We’re making camp by the wall,” Levi told them, not bothering with a greeting. “We’ll use our own supplies and stay out of the way of teams repairing the walls. It’s just safer to camp inside them at night and worry about moving in the day. Problem?”

“If your information is so urgent, shouldn’t you leave  _ now?”  _ one of them demanded. 

“Sure,” Levi said, flatly. “Open the gate up. Most titans slow down at sunset, so there should only be about a third of them ready to stick their heads through. We’ll take any lanterns and torches from your stocks, to make sure we can see their outline  _ before  _ they eat us. That way we know who to haunt when we’re fucking dead.”

The other Garrison soldier scowled. “There’s no need to be sarcastic, alright?” he said. “Make the camp, we’ll help you, but I’m telling you, most of the men are going to be upset about being dragged out at night, and the city folk aren’t going to be happy about double the soldiers bunking down at their gate.”

“We’re not looting farms or anything,” Levi said. “We just need a section of the wall and some tents. We’ll be gone soon enough.”

The Garrison soldier sighed, then looked to the side, at the bloodied stranger, still clutching the journal and openly staring. 

“...Is there a problem?” he asked.

Levi pulled the stranger’s reins, prompting his horse to move closer to Levi’s own. “Are you done?”

The stranger turned his wide eyes on him, and then shook his head, turning back to the journal with renewed focus. 

“Right,” the Garrison soldier murmured. To Levi, he said, “We’ve got a spot clear, and we’ll get some spare tents out here, with some men to put them up. Forgive them, if they complain a little. It’s getting pretty late.”

Levi didn’t reply to that - he was still pretty shit at managing to be  _ polite  _ to fucks like that, and he doubted he’d ever get the hang of it, so he preferred to just ignore them when possible. 

Instead, he looked to Hange, who nodded in immediate understanding, and turned, leading them to the section of wall they’d appropriated.

  
  
  
  


They set up a large tent in the center of their sectioned-off ‘camp,’ which Levi immediately shoved both Hange and the stranger into, waiting for him to finish whatever he was writing. 

Finally, he stopped, handing the journal back to Levi, and the pen back to Hange.

“Hold onto it,” Hange told him. “We might not be done.” 

Levi ignored them both, focusing on the messy chicken scratch handwriting, fluctuating wildly across the page from where he’d been trying to write on a constantly moving surface.

  
  


_ About an hour after Shadis returns from his expedition, a 60m titan will kick in the wall, directly south of the gate of Maria. Titans will be called through to clear the city, and when the civilians are dead, an armor-plated 15m titan will come through, acting as a living battering ram to knock down the interior gate.  _

_ The titans you are facing are not pure titans. They are intelligent, and strong. If I can get outside the wall, I can possibly stop them before they reach the gate, but I would need to be out as soon as possible - even camping for one night could allow them the ability to start. The titans will start being controlled by a female titan who can agitate them, and I can only save the expedition if I stop her before she has the chance to call them. Otherwise, they’ll wipe out the entire expedition.  _

_ I am absolutely certain I can stop her. There is a chance that I can also stop the armored titan, but I am less certain, and I’ve got reason to doubt my ability against the colossal titan.  _

_ None of them can be defeated by normal means. The female and armored titans are fierce fighters with nearly impenetrable skin and the colossal is nearly untouchable due to size and the fact that he can release steam from his skin at will.  _

_ The only thing that can defeat a titan like that is another titan like that. I showed Hange that I had the ability to generate the form of a titan, even though I only made the single arm. The ability is the result of an experiment. I can’t explain any more than that right now.  _

_ At one point, I had the ability to generate a form even larger than the colossal titan, but I am unsure if I still can. The person who gave me the ability is the one who took out my tongue, and if she has decided I don’t deserve to speak, I’m afraid she might have also decided I don’t deserve to have that strength. _

_ The only way I can know is to try, and the only way I can try is if I get outside. If you can get me to the top of the wall, I can get down on my own. The titan body will allow me to either catch myself, or regenerate anything I break. _

_ I also know how to use 3DM gear, if you want me to go alone. I just have to do this as soon as possible. _

_ If I don’t, everyone in this city dies.  _

_ Everyone. _

  
  
  


“Everyone, huh?” Levi passed the journal to Hange, letting them read it. “You can become one of those things?”

The stranger nodded. 

Hange sucked in a breath to his side, leavin Levi with the impression they’d gotten to the ‘experiment’ bit.

“But it’s controlled?” 

The stranger nodded again. 

Levi hummed. He waited a moment, until Hange looked back up from the notebook. 

“If you’re lying to me, or uncontrolled, I’ll kill you.”

“Levi!” Hange scolded. They turned to the man, passing the journal back. “Can you write your name? If not, I’ll just have to give you one.” 

The man quickly accepted the journal, only to pause with the pen over the page. 

“You forget it?” Levi asked. 

“He did claim to have amnesia,” Hange said. 

The man shook his head, and moved his hand, scrawling something quickly, turning it to show them both. 

In large, untidy writing, was  _ EREN.  _

“Your handwriting sucks,” Levi told him.

To his surprise - and suspicion - Eren smiled at the comment.

He looked to Hange, then in the direction of the tent flaps, imagining the wall beyond them. “If you go over the wall at night, my men can’t see well enough for a fair fight,” he said. “And, as annoying as it is, I’ve not been in the Survey Corps long enough for anyone to trust me if I tell them to jump into the dark, especially with an active titan. As soon as the sun breaks the horizon line, we can move, but not before then.” He looked back at Eren, tipping his head. “I have no reason to stop you if you want to go over anyway, but you’ll have to find your own way up the wall, and back over when you’re done. If you want my help, you wait until the morning.”

Eren grimaced, but nodded. Levi watched him for a moment, before deciding that he really had no reason to lie, and looked to Hange instead.

“Bring bedrolls?” he requested. 

Hange looked from Levi, to Eren, then back. “...Three?” 

“Two,” Levi said. “I’ll take watch, until midnight. Then he’s your problem.” 

Hange gave a lazy salute - more of a tap against their chest than anything, clearly not meant with any level of actual respect - and turned, heading out of the tent, likely going to gather the requisite supplies. 

Eren still had the journal, though, and when Levi looked back, it was being shoved back under his nose.

In the last remaining blank corner of the page, the man had scribbled,  _ I can tell you more.  _

“I’m sure you can,” Levi said, simply, raising a hand to push the journal away from his face. “And you  _ will.  _ But first, we have shit to do, and before  _ that,  _ we may as well sleep.” 

Hange ducked back into the tent, then, three bedrolls under their arms. 

“You said two,” Hange said, unnecessarily, “but that would mean we shared one, and you are a lot pickier about your bed than I am, so I got you your own.”

“I said two because we have limited supplies, dumbass,” Levi said, but took the offered bedroll anyway, moving to spread it out on the far side of the tent. 

“But the Garrison don’t,” Hange said.

Levi shot them a look. “You stole from the cops?”

“‘Cops,’” Hange mimicked. “You’ve gotten excited, haven’t you?” 

Levi scoffed, turning back to his bedroll, focusing on flattening the fabric out evenly. His speech would never be clean or proper, but he typically managed to avoid speaking like a total street urchin most of the time.

Hange was right, though. 

If everything Eren was saying was true - if everything had changed in such a way…

It was hard for even someone as bitter and jaded as him to feel anything but hope. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is almost entirely Levi and Eren interacting! + a bit of hange and Best Girl petra

Eren stared up at the ceiling of the tent, taking in the seams - simple, straight lines, crossing over each other to form perfect folds. 

The roof wasn't worn, or patched. The stitching hadn't been broken or torn, the thread was the same throughout, the size of the stitches uniform. 

It was such a little difference to note between the military he remembered, and this one, who still hadn't been faced with titans inside the walls. .

If he acted in time, they might not need to be. It might be them who move freely outside the walls, their people going from prey to hunters. 

But that just brought him back to his dilemma: if he stopped the wall from falling, what was next? What else could be done?

How much was he willing to do? How much was he willing to not do? 

What did he want to change?

He didn’t want anyone to die, but he was twenty-eight, and from what he’d seen, saving anybody was just delaying the inevitable. 

He couldn’t protect everybody.

...Could he?

He raised one hand, staring at his own palm. He imagined he could see scars on the skin, though he had none, his healing factor erasing them with ease. He imagined he could see the blood dried under his nails, the imprint of teeth on his thumb from a decade of transformations. 

Inside the walls...the people were safe.

He wouldn’t sterilize them. He wouldn’t doom them to die off inside a cage.

But....maybe letting them out wasn’t the answer. 

If he could stop the others, could reclaim their titan abilities, they’d have leverage for fighting the titans outside the walls, clearing extra territory for capture. They could extend the walls out to the edges of the island, eradicate the titans trapped on their land, erase Marley’s dumping ground. He could slip out, send messages to the Subjects of Ymir outside the island, bring them into a paradise just for them, like Fritz had intended. 

One without fear of titans, but instead, the knowledge that they were the ones feared, that no one dared cross them lest they provoke the wrathful force that couldn’t be withstood. 

It wasn’t peace...but it was better, wasn’t it?

He let out a sigh, giving up on sleep, sitting up instead. 

His movement drew Levi’s eyes, where the man sat by the entrance of the tent. 

Eren frowned at him, a moment, before realizing the discrepancy - when Levi’d said he was ‘on watch,’ Eren had assumed he meant watch over the camp, not watch over him. 

Valid, he supposed. At least he wasn’t chained down again. 

He considered, briefly, retrieving the notebook, and writing out some more information for Levi. He’d filled his page, though, and he wasn’t going to go flipping through the journal after Hange’s heavily implied threat the day before, even just turning one page.

Besides, the light was too low for him to be able to write well, and his handwriting was a mess to begin with. Levi wouldn’t be able to read a page full of scribbles in the tiny bit of lamp light that filled the tent, burning just enough to allow Levi to be able to keep an eye on Eren’s movements, without disturbing Hange, who appeared to be sleeping heavily on their bedroll.

Eren didn’t really trust them - Hange was a dice roll, always had been, and while it was completely possible they were actually unbothered enough to fall right to sleep, there was equal chance that they were faking, waiting for Levi or Eren to make some kind of move. 

Eren looked at them, a moment, trying to see a hint to which one it was, but Hange was hard to read when awake.

He gave up quickly, turning back to Levi, who tipped his head in response. 

Curious, Eren moved, gently raising a hand near the lamp, where it was most illuminated, and waiting for Levi to look at it. As deliberately as he could, he moved his hand, making what he thought was the military sign for ‘safe.’ 

“Hand signs?” Levi asked, quietly, though it wasn’t really a whisper, clearly not too concerned about Hange. “Military uses that one for ‘safe.’ That what you mean?”

Eren nodded. 

“You have other signs?”

Eren held his fingers up, about an inch apart. 

“A little?” Levi asked, then, catching on, corrected, “a few?”

Eren nodded again. 

“You don’t know the whole language of them?”

Eren shook his head. 

“Right,” Levi said. “So, if we get somewhere you can’t write, you’re just fucked.”

Eren snorted. He didn’t have a way to signal pretty much, and his attempts at speech only really had one volume, which made them unsuitable for the quiet atmosphere. Instead, he just shrugged, which Levi seemed to understand.

“There’s books on it, somewhere,” Levi said. “If you live through whatever the fuck you’re planning, you need to read one.” 

Eren didn’t really see the way that would help him - if nobody else knew the hand signs, who was he going to talk to? Just walk up and down streets, waving his hands, until someone understood?

“Do you heal like a titan?”

Eren blinked, surprised at the question, and gave a slightly hesitant nod - confused, as he’d shown them that already. 

“Completely?” Levi asked. “If I cut off your leg, it will grow back?”

Eren nodded again, even more warily. Was Levi planning cutting him out of his own neck, again?

That didn’t make sense, though - he didn’t know that was where Eren’s body rested in the titan form. For all he knew, Eren could be at the heart of his larger body. 

“So,” Levi said, leaning forward a bit, propping up one leg and resting against it. “Why doesn’t your tongue grow back?”

Eren paused, trying to think of how to explain. In a soft attempt at dodging the question, he reached out, tapping the notebook: an attempted, _ I already told you. _

“You said the person who gave the ability did it,” Levi said. “And that they might have taken it away. You didn’t explain how that worked - or who has abilities that powerful. Or where they are.”

Eren debated how to reply. He couldn’t exactly explain Ymir, even if he had a way to talk about her. Even he didn’t really know the truth of her abilities: his knowledge stopped at her. Whatever creature had given her the power, whatever force she’d made her deal with, was entirely unknown to him. 

Despite his own logic against writing anything in the dark, he grabbed the notebook again, sucking it up and turning the page, relieved to find it also blank, and set the pen to it again. He scratched out his letters slowly, trying to keep track of them in the dark.

A second later, a shadow passed over the page, and he looked up to see Levi crouching down next to him, turning up the lamplight.

“Hange will either keep sleeping, or they won’t,” Levi said. “I don’t really give a shit. If you have something to tell me, tell it now.”

Eren gave a quick nod, turning back to the page, quickly scrawling out a question, before turning the journal around and sliding it to Levi.

_ Do you know about the ocean? _

The scout picked up the journal slightly, angling it into the light to read it, before setting it back, looking at Eren blankly. 

“What’s that?”

Eren couldn’t help but give a small, thrilled smile, turning eagerly back to the notebook. 

_ Like a lake, but huge. It seems endless, in every direction. You have to take a special boat to cross it - like the large transport ships for crossing the lake at Wall Maria, but even stronger, sometimes even bigger. There’s all sorts of things in it-... _

“Again with the novel,” Levi muttered. “For being mute, you never shut the fuck up.” 

Eren shot him a look, unimpressed, and resumed writing. 

In his focus, he didn’t see Levi’s surprise. 

  
  
  
  
  


Levi could count the amount of people who spoke frankly to him on one hand. 

Hell, he could count them on one finger, as it was just Hange. Even Erwin had his polite way of handling things, never really just looking Levi in the face and telling him to shut up, even when that was clearly what he meant. 

Eren didn’t have the capability to say shit like that, but the look he’d just given was close enough. 

Granted, the guy didn’t know anything about Levi. His history, his experience, his reputation - they were all unknowns to the stranger from outside the walls. He had no reason to respect Levi, and - more rarely - he had no reason to fear him, either. 

After a year of playing soldier, it was pretty nice to deal with someone who clearly didn’t give a fuck about the badge on his shoulder, or what was behind it. 

He shifted, taking a seat beside the lantern, waiting for the other to finish writing. 

A moment later, Eren was dropping the journal into his hands again. 

He’d scribbled out a good paragraph of information, explaining the concept of a huge body of water, full of salt and weird fish, with water that washed over the shore when the wind blew, leaving huge spans of wet sand behind. 

“...Gross,” Levi said. “Interesting, though. What’s that got to do with your mouth?”

Eren reached out, making an impatient gesture with one hand, and Levi passed the journal back obligingly, letting him resume his furious scribbling. 

“You’re gonna need another notebook, at this rate,” Levi said. 

Eren made a ‘hum’ that came out sounding like he had a cold, and otherwise ignored him entirely. 

Levi watched him, curious. He’s kind of a shit, isn’t he?

The journal was shoved back to him, a moment later, and Levi tipped it to get the most light. 

_ There are strange creatures in the water. A young girl once hid near water to get away from hunters -  _

There was a note scribbled sideways, adding  _ ‘she was a slave,’ _ before resuming the normal text.

_ -and she found this creature, no one knows what, and it fused with her body. She became the first titan. When she died, her children ate her, and gained the ability, and then went on to have lots of children and be eaten as they died, passing the power down through generations. Those children with the abilities were the titan shifters, and the others had the gene necessary to become titans. Non-descendants can’t become titans. _

Levi blinked, looking back at Eren. “...Titans are humans?” 

Eren nodded, reaching back out. Once more, Levi passed the book back, only to move immediately, shifting around to sit beside Eren, reading over his shoulder while he wrote, impatient. 

_ A human being injected with the spinal fluid of a titan will become a pure titan. _

“A ‘pure’ titan?” Levi read out. 

_ One that is mindless. The regular kind, not the intelligent human shifter ones.  _

“Right,” Levi said. “Can it be reversed?”

_ Only if they eat an intelligent titan.  _

“Disgusting,” Levi muttered. “So, if a regular titan were to eat you-...?” 

_ They’d have to kill me first, _ Eren wrote. Levi snorted, thinking that was obvious, but Eren kept writing, explaining,  _ I’ve been swallowed by a titan before. You can survive in their stomach, if you’re swallowed whole. The heat and acid will slowly kill a human, but my regeneration kept me alive until my transformation kicked in. _

“A titan doesn’t instantly kill a human?” Levi asked, alarmed. “You mean, if a person is swallowed whole, they can still be recovered?”

_ Most titans kill humans first, but it's possible. _

“Fucking-...” Levi shook his head, reaching up, scrubbing a hand down his face.

...How many people had they abandoned, still alive?

The sound of a pen scratching drew his attention back to Eren’s writing. 

_ If they eat me, they gain the power of the titans forms I have. That’s dangerous, because before, I had three of them. _

“....Three?” Levi asked, confused. “You turn into three titans?”

Eren shook his head, starting to write again.  _ There are nine intelligent titan types. They have different abilities. If you eat the person with one of the abilities, you gain it. I’ve got three of them: the Attack Titan, the- _

“You’ve eaten three people,” Levi said, flatly. 

Eren’s pen paused over the page a moment, before moving over a fraction, writing in the blank space:  _ Two. _

“What, were you born with one?”

There was a good thirty seconds where Eren didn’t move, but right when Levi was getting impatient, he wrote out an answer.

_ My father already had two. _

“You...ate your dad,” Levi said, staring down at the page. 

Eren, not looking up, drew a small checkmark next to the line in confirmation. 

Levi sat there stewing on that a moment, processing it fully. 

"You ate your fucking father."

Eren gave him that  _ look _ again, as though being caught on the concept of patricidal cannibalism was some shortcoming on Levi's part. 

Forcing himself to move past it, he asked, "What were the types? You were writing them."

Eren nodded, starting back where he'd left off. 

_ Founding, Attack, Warhammer, Jaw, Female, Armored, Colossal, Beast, Cart.  _

He underlined the first three, writing under them,  _ IM THESE.  _

"And what's that mean?" Levi asked. "What's the difference?"

Eren started in on another lengthy essay, explaining the abilities of the different titan types, from what size their bodies were to how they fought and what they could do. 

Levi stopped him at several points, asking clarification on things like  _ they can CONTROL titans?  _ and  _ it fucking TALKS? _

They spent a good while like that, leaning over Hange's journal, filling four more pages as they went back and forth, Levi prompting him for as much information as possible. 

Finally, Levi frowned, asking, "Which three are we fighting?"

Eren flipped back to his list of them, circling the middle three. 

"Fuck," Levi sighed. "But the founding titan can take them down?"

_ If I can still use it. The Attack Titan is definitely still there, but the Founding usually needs royal blood to work. I only managed it the past few years because I convinced _

And then, he stopped writing, hovering his pen over the page, like cutting off in mid speech. 

"Convinced?" Levi prompted. 

Eren didn't reply, though. Instead, he turned to a blank page, and wrote out on the top line in his neatest writing,  _ There are humans outside the walls.  _

"I figured," Levi said. "You had to come from somewhere."

_ They aren't friendly.  _

"Of course not," Levi sighed. "Nothing's ever fucking easy."

_ There are resources on this land that they need. They sent the titans to wipe us out, so that they can take over the area without provoking a response.  _

"A response from  _ what?  _ We're a fucking chicken coop, waiting for a fox."

_ The Founding Titan. If the royal family still had it, they could create and lead an army of titans to level the earth. _

"...So," Levi said. "If  _ you  _ still have that power…"

Eren didn't even bother writing out the confirmation. 

_ It's called the Rumbling _ , he wrote, instead.  _ Within the walls there are thousands of fossilized Colossal titans. With the power of the Founding Titan, I could unleash them, and flatten the enemies we have...leaving those within the walls as truly the only humans, as we thought we were.  _

"We?" Levi read out. "You  _ are  _ from here?"

_ Originally,  _ he wrote.  _ My father wasn't, though, and I used the knowledge he gave me to leave and go back, investigating the truth of the titans, and who had sent them.  _

Levi looked to Eren, then, not the paper, and asked, "And what did you find?"

Eren looked up at him, and then simply shook his head. Returning to writing, Levi looked down to see him scrawl out,  _ I don't know if peace is possible. I can't see an outcome that isn't 'us or them.' _

"We'll tell Erwin this, when he gets back," Levi said. "He's got the fucking chess player brain. He'll probably have an idea about it." Looking to Eren, he clarified, "Erwin Smith. He's second in command, set to take over-..."

Eren gave an impatient nod. 

"You know this," Levi said, watching him warily. "How do you have so much intel?"

Eren hesitated a moment before writing out,  _ the Walls are essentially an ant farm. I've seen a lot.  _

Levi frowned, staring down at the paper. 

Then, coming to peace with the essay he was probably going to get about it, he cracked, asking, "What the  _ fuck  _ is an ant farm?"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Petra stretched, hearing her bones crack in response. She'd only been in the Survey Corps for a short while, and she hadn't been included in the team for the expedition. She'd been told that she'd be starting on the next one, on the same team as Deputy Commander Smith's personal sponsored recruit, which everyone assured her would be a high honor, as he was apparently an unrivaled talent. 

Only, she’d been in his squad for  _ two days,  _ and she was camped under Wall Maria’s farthest point, one last layer away from the titans, for a reason that absolutely no one would tell her. 

She was pretty sure none of them knew, either, but they all seemed calm about it.

_ Is this normal?  _ She wondered, looking around the camp in the dim morning, the sun not even breaking the horizon line yet. They’d told everyone to get up around this time, because they were going to be setting out as soon as the light was good, but she was still one of the first out. 

She caught sight of the command tent, and was surprised to see two men in front of it - one of which wasn’t even in a military uniform. 

The other, if she wasn’t mistaken, was their squad leader himself, Smith’s recruit, Ackerman. 

Curious, she walked closer, weaving in between the tents. 

“-didn’t even fucking sleep,” Ackerman was saying when she reached the point where she could hear.

She paused, a moment, but the other person either didn’t reply, or replied too quietly for her to hear. 

It was apparently the latter, because after a good pause, Ackerman said, “I never woke shitty glasses in there up, either. If either of us dies today because we stayed up talking about the fucking ocean, I’m going to kill you.” Then, almost immediately, he added, “Don’t start scribbling, I know that doesn’t make any sense. I’m fucking tired, asshole.” 

She eased around a corner, the two coming back into sight, and froze as the one she didn’t recognize looked up, staring at her as though seeing a ghost. 

Ackerman looked up as well, first to the man’s face, than over to her, off to the side.

“Private Ral,” he greeted, startling her, given she’d had no idea he knew her name. “Ready to move? Did you need something?”

She snapped quickly into a salute. “N-no sir! I just- No one was awake yet, so I wasn’t sure where I was needed.”

“Nowhere, yet,” Ackerman told her. “Check over your supplies, triple-check your gear. Your team is going to be on top of the wall, as support, not on the ground, but the job should be considered high-risk regardless.” 

“S-sir…” She ventured, hesitant. “Can I ask what our objective is?”

Ackerman looked to the side, where the man was standing. Instinctively, she followed his gaze, taking in the man up close. 

His messy black hair brushed his shoulders, partly pulled back but barely restrained by the tie. His clothes were simple civilian wear, cut in a way she didn’t recognize...but also filthy and bloodstained. 

She looked, confused, to Ackerman, who was watching her again as well. 

“We’re weapons testing,” he said. “Your job is to take on any titans that make a direct move against the wall. Leave any others alone - we don’t have lives to waste.”

“Weapons testing?” Petra echoed. 

Movement drew her eyes back to the stranger, who had turned down, starting to scrawl furiously in a notebook he held. After a moment, he shoved it out, sticking it in front of Ackerman’s face. 

He pushed it away, clearly annoyed, but held it at a more reasonable distance to read anyway. After a second, he snorted, looking back to the stranger. 

“You know her?”

The man hesitated, looking back at her. He looked manic, desperate, and it scared her a little, making her take a half step back on pure reflex. 

Looking pained, he shook his head, and turned away. 

“Right,” Ackerman said, narrowed eyes flicking between them. 

“LEVI!”

All three of them startled as the tent behind Ackerman flew open, Lieutenant Hange throwing themselves out and across Ackerman’s shoulders. 

“You let me sleep,” they cooed. “You’re so sweet! Or-...” they straightened up, looking to the side, to the other man. “Was he bothering you, Eren? Did he keep you up with questions?”

“You’re one to talk, four-eyes,” Ackerman snapped. “You would’ve been taking fucking blood samples. Eren, give them the notebook. You don’t need it right now, and giving them shit to read through is the only way to make them leave you the hell alone.”

“Aw, Levi,” Hange pouted. “You shouldn’t keep him to yourself.” They reached out, then, taking the notebook back, only to freeze.

The man - Eren - froze as well. 

“You...turned the page.”

“He writes a lot,” Ackerman said. “We needed extra pages.”

Hange looked up, eyes bright in a dangerous way. “What did you write about, Eren?”

“Things you care about,” Ackerman said. “Just piss off and read it.”

Hange turned, ducking back into the tent, journal clutched close. 

“Fucking weirdo,” Ackerman muttered. Then, stopping suddenly short, he shot a sharp look her way.

She startled as well, straightening back into a solid salute. “Sir!”

“Something else?”

“Ah, no sir,” she said, quickly. “I’ll be going.”

“Hm.”

  
  
  
  


Levi watched as the girl turned and rushed off, back into the main camp, and then turned to Eren. 

_ You can trust her,  _ he’d written. Like he  _ knew  _ that. Or, beyond that, like his opinion fucking mattered when talking about what information was kept on a need-to-know basis.

Arrogant asshole. 

“Are you ready?” he asked. “Soon as the sun breaks, we’re heading over the wall. You’ll go up with Hange.”

Eren’s brows furrowed a bit, but Levi didn’t bother responding to the question he figured that was him asking: Levi wasn’t carrying him up there himself for a  _ reason,  _ yes, but it wasn’t spite, or anything like that. 

It was practicality. Levi’s use of 3DM gear revolved around him being lightweight and small, and having impeccable balance. There was no way he would be able to move half as well hauling another person along. 

He could be Hange’s problem. 

“Don’t let them take your blood,” he said, mildly. “They might drink it, and then we’ll have another one of you.” 

He heard Eren snort, a clear sound of amusement he could still make, and turned, ducking back into the tent before the half-smile tugged at his own mouth too hard. 

**Author's Note:**

> bother my tumblr  
> @spicyreyes


End file.
